


Warming Cold Sparks

by Xiocreations



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, and it's gonna be a decent amount of writing, basically i was like "sudden adoption fics are cool lets do that", more characters will be added later, so i wrote that, sparkling, this is mostly wholesome so have fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-07-24
Packaged: 2020-04-05 21:12:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19048504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xiocreations/pseuds/Xiocreations
Summary: Millions of years into the war, the idea of sparklings existing out in the universe is a foreign one.Or, at least, until the moment Megatron and Starscream stumble upon a little Seekerlet.





	1. Chapter 1

 

In a distant system, with different forms of planets, stars, and species, two mechs were walking together…Well, near each other. More like arguing with each other. The Seeker had left his post to take a flight trip, and the warlord was not happy about it. Even though there had been no altercations between the Autobots and Decepticons in almost a month, it didn’t mean that his followers could slack off like his Second. That was the fifth time that week that Starscream had left the Nemesis without a word and Megatron had to follow him down, simply because he would refuse to answer his comms. The planet that Starscream landed on was worse, it was one that seemed to be going through an ice age, thick snow covering the land and wind blowing ice pieces into their armor plating.

“Starscream,” Megatron called out to his Second with annoyance twisted in his voice, the whistling of the wind muffling the sound. “Return to your post immediately, you are not supposed to be flying outside your patrol route.” The Seeker scoffed at his command and kept walking through the cold wasteland.

“Why should I?” His words were spoken with a hum. “The only flight time I get is when I’m on patrol, I want more time to myself.” Starscream kept his snippy attitude, as always. “You keep restricting my abilities, I wouldn’t be surprised if a rebellion with me and my trine started.” He looked back at Megatron gave a smirk.

Megatron narrowed his optics into a hard glare. “Don’t.”

Starscream gave a short laugh and shrugged one shoulder. “Why not? You’ve been pushing all of us to find something on the Autobots, someone is bound to retaliate…” He turned his back to Megatron and kept walking away from his leader.

“Throwing a fit won’t work again, your trine already has plenty of flight time, stop complaining, Starscream,” his voice was stern.  
“I’m not complaining, I’m just stating the facts!” Starscream turned his helm and flashed an innocent smile at Megatron. “You’re not a flyer, so you wouldn’t understand. Us seekers get twitchy and anxious if we don’t get out to fly for longer then a few hours-” he was going to keep talking, but a pull of his arm that turned him around to face the large warlord stopped him.  
  
“Hours?! You better not mean the hours _outside_ your patrols!” He raised his voice and Starscream only kept his devious smile. “That would take up too much time, you still have reports to do, and the rest of your trine has other duties!” Megatron did not budge his opinion on this matter at all, the Seeker frowned, irritated. “Maybe if you actually completed your patrols and stopped wasting time in the labs all day, you might have free time to fly.”

Starscream could feel his spark tightened with anger and his face twisting to a scowl. “Wasting time?!” He yelled. “The only time I’m wasting is spent executing your idiotic plans and speeches! Now _those_ are wasting time when I could be doing something like-”

“Like what?!” Megatron roared in his face.

“By doing more lab tests and weapon experiments!”  
  
“Practically every weapon you have created has exploded in your face!”

“It has not!”

“Name one thing of yours that has succeeded and benefited the entire Decepticon cause!”

The two kept arguing after that, about the same things as usual. How Starscream’s experiments were useless, how he was a traitor. How Megatron was too old to lead, how his plans were stupid, repeating arguments that were millions of years old. The two were yelling in each other’s faces when a blinding shine of reflecting metal made them freeze. Their optics drew to the shining light that was hidden beneath a snowy overhang. What bot would be out there on this freezing planet? Was it just a piece of scrap metal that fell from a ship? The shifting of the metal made the two think otherwise.

“It could be an Autobot,” Starscream spoke quietly, his blasters starting to hum slightly at the thought of a possible threat before them.

“A damaged one.” Megatron moved a servo to push Starscream’s rising arm down back to his side. “One we can try to pull information from.” He made a good point, and Starscream’s silence meant he agreed. The two walked side by side to the shelter, but upon turning to fully face the source of the shine, neither mech expected to see what lay there in the snow. Megatron’s jaw went ajar and Starscream’s servos found their way to his mouth, covering it in horror, both their optics wide in shock.

“Is that a sparkling..?” Megatron’s voice was barely above a whisper as he stared at the small protoform. Hardly any color could be seen on their barely formed armor, frost crawling up their servos, pedes, and the tips of their tiny wings. Megatron was about to say more, but Starscream pushed him to the side, stumbling forward to land on his knees in front of the sparkling. He collected the small bot into his arms and held them tightly.

“It’s a seeker-” Starscream’s voice rang out with an emotion that Megatron had never heard in him before. Was that worry? Fear? His Second’s eyes were wide, servos desperately trying to hold the limp sparkling closer to his frame. “It’s rare to find a sparkling, but a _seeker_ ?” His voice was starting to crack, servos shaking as he started to rub against the sparklings back, between the small wings, trying to build up some sort of warmth. It was rare to see him like that. Being selfless. Selfless and genuinely worried for another being that wasn’t himself. Megatron didn’t know how to handle seeing the seeker like this, especially when he looked at him with _that_ expression. His optics wide, his face twisted with fear, worry, and helplessness for the sparkling that still wasn’t moving.

 “Hail the Nemesis-” Starscream’s voice broke him out of his thoughts, he didn’t even have time to respond when he yelled “ _Now!_ ” There was no hesitation when Megatron called for the Nemesis to send down a shuttle to pick them both up, it was obvious Starscream wasn’t going to let go of the frozen sparkling anytime soon.

Still worrying over the sparkling, Starscream leaned away when Megatron knelt down in front of him, his first reaction telling him to turn away. Frantic, shaking servos still trying to warm the little one between his wings.

“When’s the last time you’ve seen a sparkling?” Megatron asked, shocked.

“I… Primus, long before the war... A seeker sparkling? Probably when I was one…” Starscream didn’t look him in the eye when he said that.

“When’s… the last time you’ve seen a sparkling survive damage like this?” Starscream looked up at Megatron then, and saw that the warlord was looking at the little mech with a serious expression, one that Starscream knew.

“He’s going to be fine-” He said, looking at the sparkling, so tiny in his arms. “Don’t you give me that look you- _you_ -” He couldn’t even find the mindset to properly insult the warlord. Megatron was about to open his mouth to speak, when Starscream again beat him to it. “I’m not going to-” he took in a shaky breath. “He’ll be fine, and if he isn’t, I’m going to kill you.”

“You always say that.” Megatron didn’t care for the threat and reached a servo out to try and touch the sparkling, but Starscream pushed it away.

“Don’t you dare touch-”  
  
“You’re not warm enough, you were just complaining about how cold you are.” Starscream gave him a hard frown at that comment. “Primus- Starscream, _you’re_ shivering.” He pushed his Second’s servo out of the way, reaching for the sparkling, placing one large warm servo on the sparkling’s back, moving it in small circles. Though he was tenderly touching the little one, his expression was more serious than Starscream had seen in a while. He was trying to focus on keeping the little one warm, daring to move closer to Starscream. For once in his life, he decided not to attack the warlord, and turned his helm back down to the tiny sparkling.

“He’s probably just a newspark,” Starscream mumbled his words, his servos going to the sparklings little digits to try to brush the frost away. “He’s so…”

“Tiny,” Megatron finished Starscream’s thought with ease. “How his spark is still beating is amazing… He’s a strong one.”  A small smile, barely noticeable, came to the old mech’s face. He kept moving his servo on the sparkling, the two mechs trying to warm up the tiny one, but still, the sparkling remained motionless, and the two had a mental ping of fear that they might have been too late. For a moment, they sat in prickly, suspenseful silence. Megatron watched Starscream’s servos shake as he tried to warm up the sparkling. He had never seen the Seeker like that, it was interesting, but disconcerting to watch Starscream fall to pieces over a _newspark,_ of all things.

“Starscream.” His deep voice made the Seeker jump, a reaction he wasn’t looking for. He looked at the mech, still shaking, still frantically trying to warm up the little one. “ _Starscream_ ,” Megatron moved his servo to grab his Second’s, moving it to the chest of the small sparkling.

_Thump...Thump…Thump…_

“Do you feel that?” Megatron looked at Starscream, who was still watching the sparkling. He pressed Starscream’s servo closer on the tiny chassis.

_Thump…Thump…Thump…_

“His spark is still beating. It’s beating hard, steady, _strong._ He’s not giving up on life just yet.” Megatron’s voice was low and reassuring, servo not moving from the Seeker’s shaking one. He moved his free servo back up to the little one’s wings again, still trying to keep him warm. “We won’t let him go to the Well of Allsparks so early in his existence, no, we will make sure he lives a long and glorious life.” Starscream gave a short laugh at that, and Megatron looked to him curiously

“You’re saying _‘we’_ like I can stand being around you.” He said, trying to move the servo trapped beneath Megatron’s in an attempt to make him move away, but the warlord’s strength won out over Starscream’s own.

After a few minutes of sitting with the sparkling between them, they had built up a comfortable warmth around the little protoform. It was nearly silent, Starscream muttering a few words now and then, anxious death threats to Megatron, things he was used to hearing. During the middle of one, both the warlord and the Seeker felt movement in their servos and they both froze. Megatron slowly moved his servo to hover over the sparkling, whose optics were slowly blinking to life. When his bright red optics opened, they immediately closed upon registering that they were still on the cold planet. Megatron replaced his servos on the little form and tried to smile reassuringly at him when the protoform onlined his optics again, looking up at the warlord and Starscream.

“Don’t worry, you are out of harm's way...” His voice did it again, speaking in that low, reassuring, gentle tone that neither Starscream nor himself were used to. “We will take care of you,” he mumbled those words to himself as he watched the sparkling shutter his optics again, trying to curl up into a ball. Megatron leaned closer to the sparkling, who actually moved into the warmth of his servos. Megatron made a bold attempt to pull the sparkling out of Starscream’s arms, who quickly pulled the seekerlet closer to his chassis.

“What are you doing?!” His voice pitched high as he screeched, and Megatron frowned hard, stern optical ridge lowering in irritation.

“He’s still cold, and you’re getting _colder_. Your attempts at keeping this sparkling warm are failing.” He said, trying to pull the sparkling from the Seeker’s grasp again. Starscream turned his body away, dislodging Megatron’s servo. The sparkling began to shiver again, looking at the warlord with wide optics, then back up to Starscream, confused. The sparkling attempted to move towards Megatron, but his body was too weak, and he could only let out a small whimper.

“Starscream!” This time Megatron raised his voice at the selfish Seeker, forcing his way to take the sparkling. Starscream struggled at first, but when he watched the sparkling reach for Megatron’s warm servos, he let go. Megatron shifted his arms to comfortably hold the sparkling close to him, the sparkling letting out a cold breath as the warmth from the warlord started to surround him. He was warming up a lot easier now, but now Megatron had a death glare from his Second that he didn’t bother to comment on. Starscream leaned closer, his servo going to the helm of the seekerlet, rubbing a smooth part of the armor soothingly. The sparkling closing his eyes, passing out again. From Starscream's perspective, it was odd to see the powerful warlord hold a sparkling so carefully, like he was afraid of hurting him.  
  
“What?” Megatron frowned at Starscream. “Why are you looking at me like that?”  
  
Starscream shrugged, a smile on his face from restraining his laugh. “Just you holding the sparkling the way you are, it’s like you’re scared of breaking him.” Megatron rolled his optics at Starscream dismissively.

“I’m just being careful,” was all he said, before going silent, looking back down at the unconscious sparkling.

\-----

When the shuttle from the Nemesis arrived, three mechs came rushing out, making their way to the two mechs that were huddled together, still kneeling in the snow.

“Are you alright?” Skywarp shouted his question as he ran over with Soundwave and Thundercracker, the three stopped in their tracks when they saw the situation. They watched as their commanders turned to face them, but the three couldn’t look them in the optics, no, they were drawn to the tiny seekerlet in Megatron’s arms. Skywarp had his servos clasped over his mouth and Thundercracker leaned back in shock, the two seekers struck speechless. Soundwave stepped up to the two, kneeling down to have a closer look.

“Suggestion: hurry to the shuttle.” Soundwave was the first to break the brief silence between all of them, his monotone voice drifting off to something that sounded like worry. Megatron nodded and stood slowly, trying not to disturb the sparkling in the process. Starscream matched his pace keeping his eyes locked to the tiny seekerlet. Before Megatron had taken his first step, Starscream’s panicky shouting rang out over the roar of the icy winds.

“Didn’t you hear him?! He said _hurry_ to the shuttle!” Hearing Starscream agree with Soundwave was nice, though Megatron wished it was under different circumstances. Picking up his pace he jogged to the shuttle, his optics fixed on the sparkling. The other bots followed close behind him, Starscream right by Megatron’s side, even when they sat down on the shuttle, he pressed close, heedless of their normal hostility. Watching the sparkling.

Skywarp and Thundercracker sat across them while Soundwave piloted the shuttle back towards the Nemesis. The two other trine members were still in awe at the tiny seekerlet.

“How did you find ‘im?” Was the first thing Skywarp attempted to ask the two mechs in front of him, Thundercracker slapped his arm, trying to keep him silent. “What? I’m just curious!”

“Me too, but ask your questions later. This isn’t a time for talking…” Thundercracker pointed at Megatron and Starscream, who hadn’t registered them talking. They were too caught up in the worries for the unconscious sparkling. Skywarp was just as surprised as Thundercracker to see the bots who were always at each other's throats silent in each other’s company, working towards the same goal. They didn’t know if they liked it or not.

\----

Arriving back onto the Nemesis was a blur of shouting from Megatron, commanding other bots to get out of his way while Starscream pushed them into the bulkhead. Most of the bots that Megatron and Starscream passed only gained a glimpse of what lay in the warlord’s arms, none said a word, and none warned Hook about their march to his med-bay. When they barged through the doorway, they didn’t even give Hook the chance to speak before Starscream started barking orders at him.

“Stop what you’re doing _now_! We have more pressing matters!” Starscream yelled at Hook while Megatron laid the sparkling gently onto an examination berth. Hook’s optics widened at the sight of the sparkling and looked to the two of them, about to open his mouth to speak but didn’t get the chance to speak.

“We found him buried in snow, practically freezing to death,” Megatron stepped towards Hook, his voice dark and optics narrowing. “If you do not save this sparkling, your helm will be on the ground, understood?” Hook nodded slowly. “Then get to work,” Hook swallowed hard at Megatron’s threatening tone, doing as he was told to attempt to stabilize the sparkling in front of him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to upload this next chapter! Some life stuff got in the way and I only got around to writing and beta reading it with my friend recently! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.  
> My friends also made some memes of the last chapter! The link below is to the reblog to my tumblr, xiothunts! https://xiothunts.tumblr.com/post/185295816381/warming-cold-sparks-chapter-1-xiocreations

 

"Repeat that again, the sparkling is  _ how old  _ and his status is what?" 

"For the third time, Lord Megatron, the sparkling is in a stable condition. The only damage he received was frost in his circuits, which is slowly melting away." Hook handed Megatron a datapad that had the sparkling’s medical examination on it, which was immediately snatched away by Starscream. "...He might have stiff joints until they are all defrosted, and the sparkling is… about four years old, give or take." Hook said hesitantly, pausing as he spoke the age of the sparkling, scared of the old gladiator’s reaction.

“Four years? So he _ is _ just a newspark.” Megatron said, trying to take the datapad back from Starscream, but the seeker just twisted his body away. 

“What was a newspark doing out in a cold wasteland of a planet? There has to be  _ some _ reason for it.” Starscream wondered as he kept reading the status report on the little one. “Maybe he got separated from his Sire and Creator?” He shook his helm, dismissing the idea. “No, that wouldn’t make sense, because they would have found him by now. He had to be out there for a few days.” At this point, Starscream was just mumbling ideas on what could have happened to the sparkling, ignoring the other bots in the room. Megatron rolled his optics and frowned, looking over Starscream’s shoulder to attempt to see the report.

“His thrusters froze over,” Megatron turned back to Hook, “will that damage his ability to fly in the future?”   
  
“Why do you care?” Hook asked, raising one optical ridge higher in question. It showed to be the wrong thing to ask, as the medic watched Megatron’s optics narrow into a glare. Hook tried to keep his face calm, like he wasn’t currently ignoring his threat assessment protocols as they launched the warlord up to Threat Level: High. “It shouldn’t affect him- maybe delay his flying abilities by a few days, if he has any, that is.” 

“I’ll get him flying when he’s ready,” Starscream said, looking to Megatron. “Seekers love to fly, but need time to learn, and if he doesn’t know how then  _ I _ will teach him.” He looked to the resting seekerlet. “After a paint job, that is.” Starscream tossed the datapad at Megatron, who caught it with a frown. Starscream was making his way over to the examination berth with a sigh. “He’s covered in scratches and stray smudges of paint. I can’t even tell where his previous colors start.” A sense of dread filled Starscream’s spark when he thought about what could have happened to the sparkling. 

“We can worry about that later.” Megatron stepped up next to him, datapad still gripped in his servo. “For now, we have to wait-”   
  
“Stop saying that,” Starscream interrupted him through gritted teeth. Megatron’s face grew confused and Starscream scoffed, rolling his optics. “Saying ‘ _ we’ _ . We don’t work together, ever. Why would we work together on figuring out what to do with this sparkling?”

“Because I would prefer to do it on my own-”   
  
“There’s  _ no way _ I’m going to let you do that!”   
  
Megatron frowned harder, the worn lines of his face deepening, before continuing with what he was saying before he could be interrupted again. “But knowing you, that will never happen. So it turns into  _ we _ , being that  _ we _ both figure out what to do with the sparkling. And now  _ we _ will wait until the sparkling wakes up, and when he does  _ we  _ will need to get him some fuel. Hook’s status report says that his energon levels are very low.” Megatron pointed out, but Starscream waved a servo at his comment.

“I know, I read the report.” 

Below them, the sparkling started to stir, slowly waking up. Megatron and Starscream both still stood by each other in front of the examination berth, watching the seekerlet open his bright red optics with a struggle. It looked like his vision took a minute to clear as he blinked his optics a few more times, squinting them when he saw the two larger bots by the berth. His optics widened, shuttering open to their full size as they fixed on the two Decepticons. The seekerlet opened his mouth to say something, but all that came out was static, desperately trying to move his body away from the sight of the two mechs. Megatron moved a servo to hold out to the sparkling, trying to calm him down, but his gesture only made the sparkling kick his little pedes to push him back, and he fell off the berth with a crash. Starscream cringed at the sound of pain the seekerlet made when he hit the floor, glaring at Megatron murderously before slapping his hand away. 

“You’re scaring him!” Starscream raised his voice, turning to the sparkling that was now sitting on the ground. He had his small servo to his helm, rubbing it with a whimper. Starscream knelt down on the ground, leveling himself with the sparkling. “Don’t worry about that buckethead, you’ll be just fine-” The Seeker made the attempt to reach out to him, but his gesture failed as well and the sparkling flinched away from Starscream’s extending hand.

“No!” The sparkling yelled, static still in his tiny voice, little pedes pushing him back from the bots near him and into the bulkhead. He turned his helm to look at the wall behind him, venting heavily, looking side to side as if he wanted someplace to hide. When he spotted a piece of large medical equipment, he wobbled to his pedes, running, or, more accurately, stumbling, over to hide behind it.

“Hey!” Hook shouted at the sparkling, about to follow after him, but before he could take a step, Megatron and Starscream gave him another mutual death glare. Hook avoided their look and turned back to the piece of equipment the sparkling was hiding behind. “Just get him out of there, before he breaks something.” He stepped out of the way, not bothering to get involved in the situation.

Megatron and Starscream met optics, no words had to be exchanged for them to agree to  _ try _ not to argue during this situation. Starscream was the one who stepped closer to the equipment, kneeling down in front of it while Megatron stood behind him. The two peered behind the equipment to see the sparkling curled up in a ball. His legs close to his chassis, arms wrapped around his helm, and one optic open wide, staring at the two, his whole frame was trembling. It was a pitiful sight. Starscream took in a breath and forced himself to lay on the dirty ground, grimacing in displeasure.

“Hello,” he spoke in a soft, calming tone to try  and ease the seekerlet’s fears, keeping himself propped up  on his arms. “We didn’t mean to scare you,” he kept his voice even, watching the sparkling slowly unwind his arms. “Being in a new place can be scary, believe me, I know. Being in a war for millions of years can get you stuck in some odd places…” Starscream laughed thinly, trying to be comforting. “Could you come out from behind there, newspark?” Starscream asked, the sparkling stared at him blankly, shaking his helm slowly. 

“No?” Starscream’s forced smile almost faltered, he looked up to Megatron for a moment to see his optics were still focused on the sparkling.  _ So much for ‘we’, _ he thought. Starscream drummed his fingers on the floor, trying to think of what to do. “Newspark,” he called for the sparkling who leaned further away. “When was the last time you fueled?” The sparkling’s optics widened and he shook his helm faster this time.

“No,” he moved back further behind the equipment, his frame starting to shake again, even his wings rattled loudly. “No!” He yelled at Starscream, who huffed in frustration. 

“Our intentions are to not hurt you. Have we hurt you yet, newspark?” He asked, and the sparkling looked at him with  his still wide optics.

“No…”   
  
“And we never will. Now, can you come out so we can get you some fuel?” He asked, extending his servo to the small seeker. “Megatron and I,” it looked like he struggled to put their names in the same sentence. “Were the ones who picked you up from that frozen wasteland. Do you remember?” He kept his arm stretched out, watching the seekerlet’s face look unsurely  at his servo, nodding slowly. “That’s good…” Starscream’s optics met the seekerlet’s and he smiled comfortingly. He was hesitant, but the sparkling slowly reached out to Starscream’s servo. He gently held on as Starscream guided him out from behind the equipment. When the sparkling was fully out of hiding, Starscream sat up and moved his servo away, but the sparkling still kept the grip on his servo tight. Starscream felt his spark twist. Megatron knelt down to the ground, looking at the little sparkling. 

“I…  _ apologize  _ for scaring you, young one.” Megatron looked like he was in physical pain, being anything less than authoritative in front of his Second. Starscream was shocked to even hear him say it. “Would you like to get some fuel?” He asked, watching the sparkling hold onto Starscream’s servo a little tighter. 

“I think fuel should be brought to him first, before we expose him to everyone on the Nemesis.” Starscream gave Megatron a stern look, watching the warlord’s face shift to confusion for a second, then settle in understanding.

“Noted.” Megatron activated his comm. “Skywarp. Thundercracker. Bring a few cubes of energon to the med-bay, and hurry with it.” Starscream would have yelled at Megatron for calling his trine away from their duties when there were plenty of lesser mechs available, but refrained from it with the sparkling in front of them, wary of scaring the little thing off again. The warlord moved to sit on the floor, as it was growing obvious that the sparkling wasn’t going to move from his spot any time soon. “Young one.” Even though Megatron kept his voice calm, the sparkling still flinched at the deep tone of it, and Megatron cringed, his face becoming somber. “Do you know your designation?” The sparkling stared at him as he thought, then he looked confused. Megatron couldn’t help but laugh weakly. “My designation is Megatron,” he motioned to Starscream. “His is Starscream, and the bot with his helm in a datapad is Hook, he helped your frame feel better.” He tried to hold his faltering smile when the seekerlet looked over his frame, perplexed.

“No.” The seekerlet had a hard frown on his face and looked to Megatron, who raised an optical ridge in question.

“No? Do you not feel better?”

“No…” His little servo held tighter onto Starscream’s, his free digits touching one of the scuffs of paint on his frame, letting out a frustrated whine when it smudged off onto his tiny servo. Starscream could pick out the problem the seekerlet was having on the spot. Seekers, it seemed, all shared at least  _ this _ trait. 

“You don’t like the mess on your frame do you?” The seekerlet shook his helm and Starscream laughed. “How about this, you refuel, tell us your designation, and we can see about getting you a paint job, how does that sound?” He looked to the sparkling, whose chubby face was squished into an impressive little pout. The small seekerlet stared back stonily, before he nodded, biting his lip. 

It wasn’t too much longer before the door to the med-bay slid open to show Skywarp and Thundercracker carrying a few cubes of energon in their hands, enough for everyone to have one.

“Hey guys!” Skywarp walked in, his voice booming with its usual excitement. Though everyone else was used to his usual volume, the young Seeker was not. “We brought the cubes!” With Skywarp approaching closer and his volume increasing, the seerkerlet let go of Starscream’s servo to slam his little ones over his audials. Starscream’s face draining to concern as the sparkling crouched down to his knees and hide his face when Skywarp and Thundercracker stopped in front of them. Skywarp opened his mouth to talk-shout again when Starscream bolted to his pedes, standing in front of the purple Seeker. 

“Stop. Talking.” He spoke through gritted teeth.

“What? Why? I haven’t even said anything-!” Skywarp raised his voice again in a hopeless defense, the volume  making the sparkling flinch again. 

“Just shut your face for a minute.” Starscream narrowed his optics, keeping his voice hushed.

“But I haven’t done anything, Screamer!"

“Hush already!”   
  
“But-!”

“ _ Skywarp _ .” It was Megatron’s voice that made him stop talking. The purple bot looked to their leader, who had picked up the shaking sparkling, his little face tucked away into Megatron’s broad chestplates. “Restrain yourself from yelling, if you will.” He moved a servo to rest on the sparkling’s back, rubbing soothing circles between his little wings. “I believe loud sounds are a… trigger of sorts. Now, hand me a cube, Skywarp.” He held out a servo to Skywarp, who hastily handed the warlord an energon cube.

“Young one,” Megatron’s voice was hushed, the young seeker curling more into his chest. “You need to fuel, sit up for me.” There was no aggression in his voice as he attempted to coax the seekerlet into listening to him. It worked. He sat up slowly, small sparks and streams of lubricant falling from his optics, his small servo reaching up to rub one optic, his intakes shuddering. 

“It’s alright,” Megatron kept his tone soft, handing the seekerlet the energon cube, watching him hold it tightly. “You are alright, young one, there is nothing to fear.” The warlord gave a comforting smile, moving his servo to the energon cube, leading it to the sparkling’s mouth. “Now, fuel up, a bot your age needs to take in a lot of energon to grow strong.” 

The sparkling looked at Megatron blankly, no emotion showing besides the leftover sparks still coming from his optics. He drank his energon slowly, like he was told, and passed the empty cube back to the larger bot when he was finished. 

“Are you all fueled up? Do you need anymore energon?” Megatron asked, putting the empty cube to the side, digits wiping off the stray energon off the messy sparkling’s face.

“No.” The young seeker moved to lay back against the warlord’s chest, it looked like he felt comfortable with the warlord.

Starscream and the rest of his trine watched this scene, dumbfounded. None would have expected to see Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, a warlord, an ex-gladiator, to act this way towards another bot, to be so... gentle. They stared at the two on the ground with their energon cubes in hand. Skywarp opened his mouth to speak, Thundercracker elbowed him in his side to stop him before he could say a thing, giving him a look to shut him up. Starscream snorted, watching his trine, before looking back to Megatron, who stood slowly with the sparkling still tucked in his arms. Starscream wished he could capture this moment and use it as future blackmail, but alas, Reflector wasn’t there to snap a few pics for the holonet. He set his energon down with a sigh.

“Alright, sparkling,” Starscream stepped up to Megatron, his optics focused on the now nervous seeker. The Second’s servo went to the seekerlet’s helm, rubbing a smooth spot soothingly. “Can you do us a favor and tell us your designation now?” The seekerlet looked at Starscream for a moment, then away to shake his helm. “No? Why not? You do know your designation, right?” 

“...No.” This caught the Second and the warlord off guard. They didn’t expect that answer from the young bot.

“No? Do… you not have one?” The seekerlet shook his helm again Starscream and Megatron looked at each other , both thinking the same thing. The little nameless seeker was just pitiful. 

“Would you mind if we gave you one?” Megatron asked, letting the first thought that came to his mind escape his lips. He didn’t regret it, but he didn’t expect the sparkling to spring up, looking shocked. He shook his head ‘no’ in response, looking at both Megatron and Starscream with shocked, wide optics. It was like the sparkling couldn't believe what he just heard, and Starscream could swear that the seekerlet was restraining a smile. 

"Well if we're giving him a designation, it's going to be a  _ good _ one." He said, and Megatron nodded. 

"Obviously. Nothing but the best for this one." He smiled at the sparkling. "How about…Springstrike?" Both Starscream and his trine made a face at the name.

"Springstrike?  _ Really _ ? No." Starscream waved a servo imperiously. "I believe the best designation for the sparkling is Shinedown." He looked proud of himself at his suggestion. 

"No, that's  _ worse _ than my suggestion. What about Wildshot?" 

"He isn't  _ wild _ as far as I know. So no on that horrific designation. Blindlight?" After that one, Megatron and Starscream kept arguing about names. They were back up to their usual level of  ‘constant annoyance’ for the bystanders watching with their energon cubes. 

"If I may," Thundercracker spoke up, gaining the attention of the arguing bots. "Maybe you could pick a designation from the planet he hails from. It would probably the most fitting thing to do, rather than giving him a pompous or aggressive name." He crossed his arms over his chest, braving the twin glares from Megatron and Starscream. He didn't care much about their judgement. 

"Well if we're going down that route, what planet do you hail from, young one?" Megatron glanced down at the sparkling, who looked unsure again, mouth drawing down into a frown. He shrugged. "You don't know, do you?" The sparkling shook his helm. 

Starscream huffed out an annoyed breath. "Well there goes that idea. Unless you want to call that frozen tundra his home, then there’s practically nothing to go off of." 

"Hey, that sounds good!" Skywarp spoke up with a wide smile on his face. He brushed off the look of confusion from the other bots made him laugh a little. "Where you both found 'im! You could call him Tundra!" 

"Why would we call him that?" Starscream was quick to shut down his trinemate's idea. 

"Well, the little guy was found in the cold. He looks like he's still cold,  _ aaand _ !" Skywarp walked over quickly to Megatron with a happy smile on his face. Watching the sparkling move closer into the warlord's chest when Skywarp pointed at his wings. "His colors look like they're gonna be icy blue. Plus it's a  _ cool _ name." He smiled widely when he said that, and Megatron rolled his optics. Before him or Starscream could voice their opinions, Thundercracker stepped up. 

"Honestly, I think Skywarp's suggestion has been the best one out of everything. And Starscream, you're only hating it because you didn't come up with it." Thundercracker gave Starscream a look that made the seeker turn his helm away. 

"Fine. But how do you feel about it?" Starscream looked to the sparkling who was still laying his helm on Megatron's chest. "Do you like the designation Tundra?" He asked and the sparkling stared backat him, thinking for a moment before nodding. Skywarp did a small victory dance at the approval of his suggestion. 

Megatron watched the purple seeker dance of victory, exasperated. The warlord moved a servo to raise the sparklings helm up so he could look at him, trying to turn his small optics away from the arguing trine.  The sparkling seemed to already grow used to their nonsense, which was a good thing since they were a particularly loud group of seekers. Megatron let out a breath caught up in his intakes, his optics softening as he looked at the sparkling and smiled gently.

"Now that that's settled, I can finally say this to you…" He glanced at the trine who were around two kliks from devolving into a full cybercat fight, Hook having to step in from his previous work to push Starscream back. Megatron shook his helm, wearily. "...Welcome aboard the Nemesis, Tundra." 


End file.
